Soft (Colt) Coral ID / how to frag it?

[josh515025]

I got a frag of this earlier this year and now it’s massive, starting to poke out of the water I need to frag it. It was sold to me as colt coral (online vendor).

If it’s disturbed the small polyps on the branches close but the actual structure doesn’t shrink (like Xenia). It’s formed a ton of new branches and the original “trunk” just keeps getting thicker. How would I go about trimming this thing down?

 

[unchaotic]

Cut off a branch (razor blade, scalpel, scissors) and rubberband it to a rock or other substrate. You will eventually see it encrust and probably grow into two branches (one on either side of the rubberband).

I assume they are like kenya tree and will get angry and shrivel after being strapped down to something. So it can be a little hit-or-miss rubberbanding them down. Some people "sew" them to a rock using fishing line. I've also seen plastic skewers of some sort put through them to give something sturdier to work with.

 

[josh515025]

Cut off a branch (razor blade, scalpel, scissors) and rubberband it to a rock or other substrate. You will eventually see it encrust and probably grow into two branches (one on either side of the rubberband).

I assume they are like kenya tree and will get angry and shrivel after being strapped down to something. So it can be a little hit-or-miss rubberbanding them down. Some people "sew" them to a rock using fishing line. I've also seen plastic skewers of some sort put through them to give something sturdier to work with.

Thanks for the info, does it matter if it's a small branch or one of the thicker branches? Can I just cut it off while the whole colony is still in the water or will it release nasty stuff into the water column?

 

[unchaotic]

Thanks for the info, does it matter if it's a small branch or one of the thicker branches? Can I just cut it off while the whole colony is still in the water or will it release nasty stuff into the water column?

Soft corals do have the potential to leak toxins into the water when being fragged. I would cut it in tank, I usually try to do all of mine while I’ve got a fresh bag of activated carbon in the sump.

As for branch sizes, I’d try both and see which you find easier.

 

[kevgib67]

I received a sinularia rubber banded to a plug, kept coming off. Tried the toothpick through the base and rubber banded it to a plug, it came off. I put rock rubble in a small plastic bowl and placed the coral in there and in a week it attached to a rock that I glued to my scape. Just another option after you frag it.